The PI's request funding for a moored ocean sensing instrumentation buoy, for remote sensing and real-time data acquisition of physical, geochemical and biological parameters of coastal waters in the important Casco Bay region of the Gulf of Maine. The proposed instrumentation would allow continuous monitoring of a coastal embayment representative of the dynamic Casco Bay region. Harpswell Sound is a water body with significant economic resources (fisheries, tourism), rapid development of surrounding watershed, potentially problematic circulation characteristics, and recurrent annual harmful algal blooms (HABs). Deployment of the oceanographic sensing buoy will provide 1) reliable long-term, near-continuous data on background conditions and unusual events of the coastal site, 2) real-time indication of events that would be sampled or studied with ancillary research based at the existing marine research station, Bowdoin College's Coastal Studies Center, and 3) an important and currently neglected coastal component of the Gulf of Maine monitoring program, GoMOOS. The data reported by the oceanographic sensing buoy will also support a large user group of researchers from several institutions throughout the state of Maine and New England region, who have pledged participation in ancillary research efforts.
Broader Impacts:
The impact of the proposed mooring will be broad in every sense: it will benefit a wide cross-section of oceanographic and non-oceanographic constituents, from physical oceanographers and geologists, to atmospheric scientists and biologists. The mooring data will provide material for practical coursework for numerous undergraduate students, and the PI's intend to incorporate the data analysis, mooring maintenance, and ground truthing into their curricula. The data may lead to an early-warning system for local HABs, and their potential for extensive alongshore advection in the Gulf of Maine coastal current. There is a great deal of potential for extensive societal benefits of this mooring, and the PI's have shown that they are aware of this, and will perform the needed outreach and education.
